In addition into relatively cheap power, the Buffalo area also has cool temperatures, which brings down power costs, and tends to be free of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, according to Network World.

The overall costs of running a large data center can be a bigger factor that location for some organizations. Studies in recent years of data center costs have found that some organizations have been priced out of places such as New York City and San Francisco and are instead moving to the sticks.

Sioux Falls, S.D., is the most affordable place for a center, according to a study by the Boyd Company, which advises companies on real estate expansions, reported in Data Center Knowledge.

Boyd’s studies rank data center locations based on the costs of land, labor, power and property taxes, estimating the annual cost of running a 125,000 square foot financial services data center. By those standards, Sioux Falls tops the most recent survey, in 2008, with a cost of $11.2 million. Huntsville, Ala., follows at $11.7 million, according to the report.